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This is the first tablet I have purchased but not the first one I have used and I bought it to accompany my Samsung Galaxy S2 and my iPhone but I must confess I am not a big Apple fan.
Why am I happy?
I have a Quad Core tablet
It's shiny and new
It isn't an iPad
loving the keyboard
generally works quite well
Why am I unhappy?
GPS - I wanted fully functional GPS
Exporting video in Movie STudio it causes the TFP to reboot.
Many applicaton crashes including google apps
in hindsight i should of waited for a 3g model
Im hoping ics will be the answer to my prayers and asus provide a 3g add on module but time will tell.
conner said:
This is the first tablet I have purchased but not the first one I have used and I bought it to accompany my Samsung Galaxy S2 and my iPhone but I must confess I am not a big Apple fan.
Why am I happy?
I have a Quad Core tablet
It's shiny and new
It isn't an iPad
loving the keyboard
generally works quite well
Why am I unhappy?
GPS - I wanted fully functional GPS
Exporting video in Movie STudio it causes the TFP to reboot.
Many applicaton crashes including google apps
in hindsight i should of waited for a 3g model
Im hoping ics will be the answer to my prayers and asus provide a 3g add on module but time will tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there are 10's of threads you could have added your opinion to. But, that said, I think if you're hoping for ICS to magically make the Prime a better option for you, you're going to be disappointed. And I'd not hold out for a "3g add on module"--the 3G version of the Prime will be a completely new, redesigned device.
Sounds like you should return your Prime and wait for something that better meets your needs. And just for the record, I only have one app that routinely crashes on my Prime, and it's problematic on other Honeycomb tablets as well. Otherwise, I've found the Prime to be remarkably stable.
conner said:
This is the first tablet I have purchased but not the first one I have used and I bought it to accompany my Samsung Galaxy S2 and my iPhone but I must confess I am not a big Apple fan.
Why am I happy?
I have a Quad Core tablet
It's shiny and new
It isn't an iPad
loving the keyboard
generally works quite well
Why am I unhappy?
GPS - I wanted fully functional GPS
Exporting video in Movie STudio it causes the TFP to reboot.
Many applicaton crashes including google apps
in hindsight i should of waited for a 3g model
Im hoping ics will be the answer to my prayers and asus provide a 3g add on module but time will tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ASUS seriously should have waited for ICS until they sold the Prime. The above post is the perfect example of what happens if you rush a generally super nice device with totally crappy software on it...
@OP: Iam sure you will be less sad with ICS
I'm still hoping that Asus will come up with a plastic window solution like the Ipad for its gps problem, they can easily retool the case and fab the plastic insert.
As far as apps go, its not Prime fault. those apps need updating from developers that made them. Google earth works perfectly now as it was just updated the other day. as far as that movie studio goes, I had the same thing happen. I don't like it really. So you can't fault the device from a software standpoint. because that always can be improved. Plus you can expect alot of apps not to be working in ICS because not all apps updated yet to support it. The apps are getting there but alot still out there that needs ICS support.
The GPS issue I can understand. You can bet though that 3g version will be at a minimum $100 more plus you will be tied into a massive data plan which requires a premium extra fee because its a tablet. Prime is still a Good choice. even without GPS working.
I've had my for three days now. I'm deciding if I'm going to return mine or not.
Pros:
Screen and brightness is second to none. Super IPS actually hurts my eyes. Marvelous.
Wifi works fine for me. Mostly like my OG ipad
Camera quality is great. Video and pictures great.
Games like Riptide and Madden play super.
Flash websites like HBO go.com work great compare to OG Transformer that I owned.
I like the when you correct a word it zooms in on the area without a circle.
Kind of fun to hold. So very thin.
Having 64gb thanks to my SD card
With volume+ app. Speakers very nice.
Charges fast
Battery life continues to get better
No screen lag for me when transitioning.
ICS coming soon.
Cons:
GPS is brutally awful. Not sure if its a deal breaker.
Bluetooth and wifi don't work together like they should.
Lack of accessories.
Do I feel this is better than the first TF (owned for 6 months)? Yes.
Is it better than the current tablets now out (including I pad 2 wifi to wifi)? Yes.
Will this be the Blackberry Playbook of 2012 (considering major flaws for some)? Decisions. The last thing I want to see in a couple months is TF Prime for 299.00 at BB.
This thing is going for a premium on EBay right now as well.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
I know it might be a matter of, "It's a functionality that should work, end of story..."
But can I ask you what your personal use for GPS is in your particular case? I had a Samsung GT10.1 for 8 months and I used the gps maybe three times. And even then it was locked onto a signal fairly quickly because the used the auto assist wifi signal, and I cannot fathom a usage instance that requires gps without wifi.
Diamondback2010 said:
ASUS seriously should have waited for ICS until they sold the Prime. The above post is the perfect example of what happens if you rush a generally super nice device with totally crappy software on it...
@OP: Iam sure you will be less sad with ICS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure there are voices on both sides
release first then ice, or wait for pics then release.
for all Ive heard before the release were come on, just release it already, pics, hc I don't care.
and not everyone start saying they should wait till pics to release it. tough crowd
It's the current battle of selling points with iCS, gps and 3/4g being the main contenders. Any new tablet that does not feature these will suffer from lackluster sales, imo.
irishtexmex said:
I know it might be a matter of, "It's a functionality that should work, end of story..."
But can I ask you what your personal use for GPS is in your particular case? I had a Samsung GT10.1 for 8 months and I used the gps maybe three times. And even then it was locked onto a signal fairly quickly because the used the auto assist wifi signal, and I cannot fathom a usage instance that requires gps without wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought this as a work device/toy. At the moment I don't know what I want to use GPS for but I just want my tablet to do what it says it should do on the tin. I don't like Apple but they seem to have set the bar really high and the iPad pretty much does what it says it will do.
I understand what you are saying and it may turn out that I never need it but I paid for it and would at least like the choice to not use it rather than not use it because of an Asus major design flaw.
To add to the list of cons it reboots every morning whether it has been charged or not.
Why wasn't this added to the rest of the gripe threads? Nothing stated here that hadn't already been a rebeating of the dust that used to be the skeleton of the dead horse.
I think we all get it. People always strive to get somethng, then when they get it, they want more.. some more than others.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Course charting in a boat using Navionics software for one. Saved me thousands on a marine gps unit and I'm using a very old Ipad for it now.
I don't expect everyone would do this, but Come'on these statements like, "I never used gps so I don't know why anyone else would", just expose your lack of imagination.
my 2 cents:
Of the 3 tablets I now own...the tf101, ipad 1, and the prime...the prime easily wins the day. Its the best tablet I have ever used.
There are a few niggles.
1. The tf101 has the best wifi of the three. The prime and the ipad 1 score exactly the same in my testing for wifi performance....which is good enough for me. Not sure why people are griping about wifi so much while mine is par or better than the ipad 1...at 50+ feet and 4 walls from my router I still get 3-4 Mbps. Netflix, etc streams beautifully from the farthest corners in my house.
I don't often bother with bluetooth on my android tablets so I have yet to test this.
2. I rarely use my tablets for GPS so this is not a deal breaker for me. I have an offline GPS system anyway that does not require live data connection which I prefer on the road. I have yet to test the prime GPS...right now GMAPS snaps up my location using IP address I imagine.
After that this tablet plays high profile 1080p mkv files both from my network and from the sdcard without a hitch, has a GORGEOUS display, slim, light, has great battery life and runs honeycomb better than any tablet out there (I've fiddled with just about all of them). ICS will be the icing on the cake.
Sometimes these forums can turn us into quibblers. I never would have noticed the issues raised here on my typical usage of the prime or any of my tablets. For example, I never knew the TF101 has such great wifi performance compared to the Ipad 1 until I tested it because of this forum. The ipad always seemed just fine to me and so does the prime....and really thats all that matters.
conner said:
I bought this as a work device/toy. At the moment I don't know what I want to use GPS for but I just want my tablet to do what it says it should do on the tin. I don't like Apple but they seem to have set the bar really high and the iPad pretty much does what it says it will do.
I understand what you are saying and it may turn out that I never need it but I paid for it and would at least like the choice to not use it rather than not use it because of an Asus major design flaw.
To add to the list of cons it reboots every morning whether it has been charged or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all likelihood it sounds as if the assisted GPS will serve your purposes just fine then. I really do not understand why anyone thought this tablet was going to be a Garmin. I also thought (and suppose I am or could be worng), that this was always advertised as aGPS. GPS does work when it is assisted by wifi, and it works pretty well when it's not. I wouldn't rely on it to drive, but I don't know why anyone would rely on anything other than a dedicated GPS to navigate - I certainly never take off on my bicycle to place unknown with just my phone, I always have my Garmin. If someone needs to navigate then they need to buy a dangerous Garmin and not think they "Got lucky" and scored a $500 tablet that allows included a real GPS that costs at least $100+ app on it's own.
Anyway.....the rebooting thing sounds like a real pain.. Mine has never reboot randomly. You say it happens in the morning, and I wonder what the culprit could Be? Are you powering it up and then it reboots or waking it Up? I wonder if it's an app.
slugbug2010 said:
Anyway.....the rebooting thing sounds like a real pain.. Mine has never reboot randomly. You say it happens in the morning, and I wonder what the culprit could Be? Are you powering it up and then it reboots or waking it Up? I wonder if it's an app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It reboots after waking up. I have no plans to give up on the TFP at the moment and I' will persist to iron out as much as I can. I will post any findings.
tdp252 said:
Course charting in a boat using Navionics software for one. Saved me thousands on a marine gps unit and I'm using a very old Ipad for it now.
I don't expect everyone would do this, but Come'on these statements like, "I never used gps so I don't know why anyone else would", just expose your lack of imagination.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am going to use marine apps as well. Do you guys think if you have a GPS lock the Prime will keep it because the speed of a sailboat is not too fast?
Accuracy doesn`t really matter.
My phone with google navigation is perfect as a GPS, I don't need something four times bigger that won't ever fit anywhere on my car and won't charge on the car adaptator.
aGPS is more than enough for me.
conner said:
It reboots after waking up. I have no plans to give up on the TFP at the moment and I' will persist to iron out as much as I can. I will post any findings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like an app issue, did you notice it happening after installing anything in particular?
gabsi55 said:
I am going to use marine apps as well. Do you guys think if you have a GPS lock the Prime will keep it because the speed of a sailboat is not too fast?
Accuracy doesn`t really matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you will have better luck than me. But, my Prime couldn't keep a lock, motionless, in the same orientation and location. The GPS just seemed to lose everything and started searching again, for no reason. That was a deal killer for me. If Asus had offered to fix this one problem, it would have been a real keeper! Instead the way they handled it just made me lose all confidence in their ability to support a quality product.
Be prepared to hear that you shouldn't expect GPS to work but that's no problem, and why would you want to use it on a tablet anyway? It would appear that most happy Prime users don't get out much or realize that an automobile is not the only use for GPS!
adiliyo said:
sounds like an app issue, did you notice it happening after installing anything in particular?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the time I got round to editing and exporting a movie I had already installed all my fav appz. I'll start first with removing the MXvideo player
So I have good news. I have been e-mailing back and forth with a helpful ASUS Engineer for the past few hours. Gary Key put me in touch with him. Taking a cue from a comment the engineer made about pre-shipping and shipping versions of the hardware I sent the Engineer a photo of my label with Serial Number and all that fun stuff.
In previous posts I have speculated that I had a unit from the rumoured borked WiFi batch. You may recall some time back that one of the major reviewers got a bad WiFi review unit, and then was shipped a fixed WiFi version. Then a day or so later rumours of a production delay due to the WiFi issue arose. Then Amazon cancelled a bunch of orders that seemed to be all for the 32GB Grey version, the version I ordered, and the version I have. I had my suspicions and he confirmed them. I was shipped a unit that is of the "old HW". He is offering to exchange it. I plan to report as soon as I get a new unit.
This is bittersweet news for all of us with crappy Primes. I don't know if the version that was meant to ship has better GPS, but I know it is the version the Engineers say has no BT/WiFi issue. This means that an exchange should solve BT issues!!!
EDIT: I'm putting my part of my SN here for statistics.
TF201 Grey 32GB BBOKAS042XXX
BAD GPS
BAD WiFi
BAD BT
I urge others to list theirs. Perhaps we can determine bad batches. As I did, put the Color, Capacity and SN. Perhaps there are people who don't use BT who have one of the bad units who might want to exchange for the newer HW.
Is there any way to distinguish the two hardware versions by serial number or somesuch?
kristovaher said:
Is there any way to distinguish the two hardware versions by serial number or somesuch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's what he's going to report once he gets the new one...
Serial Number. The following is from the e-mail.
Hello David,
*By your TF201 serial number “BBOKAS042XXX”, I checked with our factory, it is not equipped with latest HW.
*Use latest HW, I cannot re-produce this issue.
My idea is: we replace your ATP by a new one that is equipped with latest HW. Do you accept my idea to resolve the bad situation you are suffering?
Thanks a million!
Regards,
XXXXXXX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a champagne-gold version (32GB + dock) received yesterday, will check serial nr when I get back home, but wifi is crap on that one too... Going to contact asus about this as well.
Can he say if the UK Prime's have the new hardware? Since they are just arriving in UK and it's a 'new' product, having tablet and dock in one.
i just tested wifi & bluetooth on my german grey 32gb+dock transformer. download speeds were definitely slow as hell while i was transferring a file via bluetooth.
TF201 Grey 32GB BCOKAS067XXX
could you please ask that engineer if i got one from the fubar'd batch as well? my serial number is quite different from yours, but you never know..
I looked in settings but don't see the serial number. Where do you find it?
mine is bcokaso22 My wifi works but as well as my 6 year olds original prime, and a lot worse than my old samsung 10.1.. Mine is gold, and I have 6 pixels that are lighter in color and only noticeable on light screens and I have light bleed on dark screens. I got my prime on the 22nd and have gps labeled on my box. So I will wait it out little while before I go for an RMA. Its hard to keep with all the complaints on the tablet I hope I dont miss the solution when one is finally reached. I do love my prime its sexy and runs well, just wish the wifi was a little stronger and my screen problems. Have not tested the bluetooth
Well here is information I sent to him today.
TF101 WiFi On BT Off 52ms Ping | 18009kbps DOWN | 6702kbps UP
TF201 WiFi On BT Off 59ms Ping | 17372kbps DOWN | 6877kbps UP
TF101 WiFi on BT On 58ms Ping | 7805kbps DOWN | 6502kbps UP
TF201 WiFi on BT On 76ms Ping | 2895kbps DOWN | 3160kbps UP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He had me test both my Transformers. Once with Wifi On and BT Off, and then With Wifi On and BT On/Paired/Playing a local MP3.
So in a bad unit you can see the problem. With BT Off the TF101 and TF201 are identical, TF201 even surpassing TF101 on occasion in my many many MANY speedtests. With BT On both devices suffer immensely but there is more to it. Not only does BT make the TF201 go from identical to performing at about 40% of the TF101, but the performance on the TF201 is degenerative. If I were to streaming music via Google Music or watching video with subsonic or Netflix, the speedtests would have gotten worse and worse until they failed altogether. Real world performance on the TF101 is transparent. I honestly never knew that BT hurt the TF101 performance so much because I never had reason to test it. If you have a bad TF201, using a bluetooth headset or any a2dp device, and streaming high quality video will show the problem within 5 minutes. Within 10-15 minutes your internet will fail altogether.
I don't know if I would want to post my serial number on the forum. Has Asus specifically stated which units have the old HW versus the new ones? If it is by the serial number they should be able to tell us which set of digits to look at to make sure we are affected or not.
I don't know. Am I the only one not buying the ASUS claim that they already have an updated Prime designed, tested, and in production? The units started shipping less than a month ago, and they already have updated models fixing issues that just started popping up about 2 weeks ago?
federer said:
mine is bcokaso22 My wifi works but as well as my 6 year olds original prime, and a lot worse than my old samsung 10.1.. Mine is gold, and I have 6 pixels that are lighter in color and only noticeable on light screens and I have light bleed on dark screens. I got my prime on the 22nd and have gps labeled on my box. So I will wait it out little while before I go for an RMA. Its hard to keep with all the complaints on the tablet I hope I dont miss the solution when one is finally reached. I do love my prime its sexy and runs well, just wish the wifi was a little stronger and my screen problems. Have not tested the bluetooth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you get time, please test the bluetooth. The issue is not poor WiFi performance. Though, the only time I use my WiFi at the outside of my routers performance is when I get home from work. I turn off tethering and switch to home WiFi while I am still in the driveway. I sometimes sit there streaming video for a few minutes while I pack everything back into my bag and prepare to get out of the car.
Basically I watch a video while I dismount my Garmin, windshield mount for phone, 12V cooler, etc. I deliver pizzas so my car is basically a mobile control center. With the TF101, the transition from tethering to home is fine. I just restart the video, track to where I was and continue watching. The TF201, night before last, worked for maybe two or 3 minutes before it started buffering more than it was playing. Granted this is with BT On and paired with my car stereo for the TF101, but for TF201 playing through the dinky speaker since BT turned on means no ability to watch video period.
Consider testing it if you have the hardware/software to do so. Teaching you to use subsonic can be troublesome. And Netflix, depending on the resilience of your home network might just lower the video quality repeatedly. In my testing it seems that any data load under 1000kbps won't completely trigger the fault that shuts wifi down completely.
just lou said:
I don't know. Am I the only one not buying the ASUS claim that they already have an updated Prime designed, tested, and in production? The units started shipping less than a month ago, and they already have updated models fixing issues that just started popping up about 2 weeks ago?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as I stated. Remember that there was a reviewer from one of the top sites that reported WiFi issues with their initial review unit. I think it was Anandtech. Then he was sent a second review unit that didn't have the issue. Anand reported the WiFi issue on December 1st. He followed up on December 15th.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5175/asus-transformer-prime-followup said:
The WiFi Story
I'm on my third Transformer Prime. The original sample was almost completely broken when it came to wireless connectivity. I had very little range on the integrated WiFi and performance typically hovered around 0.5Mbps, sometimes reaching as high as 2Mbps. ASUS originally claimed that no one else had this issue but it looks like the CNet reviewer also noticed it. That sample went back to ASUS for diagnosis but I don't have the results back from the autopsy yet. A simple guess would be an antenna that wasn't properly connected, although it could just as easily have been something more complicated.
ASUS overnighted me a second Transformer Prime; this one was tested at ASUS in California before making its way out to me. As I published earlier, I had issues with the second sample and any Apple wireless access points (Time Capsule or Airport Extreme). Using a Netgear AP I saw 16Mbps pretty consistently, but I could only get ~32Mbps if the tablet was at the right orientation with respect to the AP. ASUS' HQ eventually conceded that there might have been a problem with the second WiFi antenna on pre-production review samples. Apparently this issue was fixed in the retail lot, but may not have been addressed in what ASUS originally shipped us. Wait—second WiFi antenna?
It turns out that the Eee Pad Transformer Prime features WiFi antenna diversity. We've talked about antenna diversity most often with reference to the cellular chain on Apple's iPhone 4 and 4S, but here it's present on the Prime's WiFi. There are two antennas on the Transformer Prime, one located on either side of the front facing camera. In the second Transformer Prime sample, one of the two wasn't working. In my third review sample, taken from the retail lot that's on its way to vendors this week, both were fully functional. The result is peak WiFi performance that is virtually identical to the original Eee Pad Transformer.
There is no RF window on the back of the Prime where the two antennas are located. Aluminum does a fairly good job of attenuating RF signals, which contributes to worse range on WiFi than the original plastic Eee Pad Transformer. WiFi performance at the edge of reception as well as the maximum usable WiFi range are both noticeably lower than its predecessor. I'm still finalizing our tablet WiFi range tests to be able to quantify some of this stuff, but it's safe to say that if you were at the edge of WiFi coverage on the original Transformer, the Prime won't be any better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anand has been incredibly useful in these last months. He reported on the truth of the 4G signal of the Galaxy Nexus, and he was good about illustrating WiFi issues on the Prime as he saw fit. It seems that some of the early units slipped their collars and made it out into the wild.
setite said:
Well as I stated. Remember that there was a reviewer from one of the top sites that reported WiFi issues with their initial review unit. I think it was Anandtech. Then he was sent a second review unit that didn't have the issue. Anand reported the WiFi issue on December 1st. He followed up on December 15th.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but then why would ASUS ship the defective units if they knew they were defective, and had an updated version in the works that fixed all the issues? It just doesn't make sense, but who knows.
I thought you were telling everybody yesterday to return their prime.... Also, reporting ASUS to the BBB....... but now your their best tester buddy????
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1437567
just lou said:
True, but then why would ASUS ship the defective units if they knew they were defective, and had an updated version in the works that fixed all the issues? It just doesn't make sense, but who knows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes plenty of sense and none at all. It depends on what the problem is. If there are a batch of units that suffer from poor manufacturing, perhaps at the time they shipped them the scope of the problem wasn't clear. Maybe they figured out that my batch was bad after it shipped out.
There is also the possible case of the Right hand not knowing what the Left hand is up to. For example Gary Key, "Technical Marketing Manager, I spoke to also knew my serial number but never made any mention of different HW versions. But the engineer, who would obviously be more intimate with the issue figured it out almost immediately.
Either way two versions in the wild actually makes it very clear why there is such a large disparity in user reports. Some people say GPS/BT/WiFi are just fine while others, ME, are having show-stopping technical difficulties.
Danny80y said:
I thought you were telling everybody yesterday to return their prime.... Also, reporting ASUS to the BBB....... but now your their best tester buddy????
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1437567
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed I was singing a different tune yesterday. I have always been a tester though. I have been in contact with Gary Key for 8 days and as of yesterday I had gotten to the end of my rope. He was playing middleman between myself and ASUS Engineering and it was getting on my nerves. He wasn't as detailed as I would have liked and kept reporting that they were unable to reproduce the issue. As I know this issue is not an isolated incident I felt like I was getting fed a load of crap.
Today, technically yesterday, he finally just put me through to an Engineer directly who managed to figure the problem out in hours. The engineer gave me more detail than Gary was relaying, which allowed me to give the Engineer more information to get to the bottom of it. When the Engineer mentioned that the problem was not present in the current HW, but mentioned a previous revision that had the problem, I decided to send him my serial number.
"What we've got here is (a) failure to communicate". This is why I said in the OP that I would report back as soon as I get a replacement unit. If they send me part of the new stock and the problem is gone, then I will report that. If the problem still exists I will rage against the man some more . To be fair I informed Gary the same time I posted that thread of my intentions. I am not yet rescinding my other thread. But I will add an update linking to this thread.
Excuse me for butting in, but I haven't seen one report of BT/WiFi working fine in unison from anyone who actually tested it when the Prime was actually paired.
After toying w/ the settings on my router, the WiFi performance alone on my Prime has been decent, but the BT vs WiFi issue is more than apparent. We're talking drops from 23 Mbps to 800 Kbps upon pairing.
BUYMECAR said:
Excuse me for butting in, but I haven't seen one report of BT/WiFi working fine in unison from anyone who actually tested it when the Prime was actually paired.
After toying w/ the settings on my router, the WiFi performance alone on my Prime has been decent, but the BT vs WiFi issue is more than apparent. We're talking drops from 23 Mbps to 800 Kbps upon pairing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue and will update this post when I get home from work. Wanted to stream Google music through blue tooth, but the connections crawls causing dropouts..
Hey guys,
it's me and my german Prime again. I want to share some of my impressions and findings with the ICS upgrade after some days of use.
First lets think again about the issues I had with HC:
Wifi range was worse than other devices (speed was way better btw)
HDMI screen mirroring was cut at the bottom
HDMI audio was only on the left channel
GPS not working at all (barely one single satellite)
Boottimes were horribly long (2 minutes or longer)
Bluetooth + Wifi lead to massive bandwidth drops
Touchpad was kinda crappy (two finger scrolling in mouse mode)
Okay, all these issues weren't really any kind of deal breaker for me, I really enjoyed my Prime since the .33 update (before the .33 the touchscreen really sucked)
I got (as I expected) my update somewhere around 8 PM PST on January 11.
The updated installed without any problems in about 10 minutes.
After ICS booted up I did a full wipe to ensure I have as less problems as possible.
Now lets talk again about the pre-ICS issues:
Wifi: Pre-ICS I was not able to connect to my home network due to the Prime not seeing it all. (Range issue)
This is now fixed with ICS. So in fact this means the Wifi range is better now (at least for me). The connection is also a bit more stable.
Both HDMI errors are gone now. Playing 720p and 1080p mkv files with DTS or AC3 sound works perfectly with Diceplayer.
Not a single issue anymore
Touchpad performance is way better now.
I can actually use the mouse mode now for scrolling etc. Nice!
Boottime almost halfed for me. It boots up way faster now.
Wasn't a big issue before, but nice to see they are making improvements here.
As several member here pointed out, the Bluetooth Wifi issue is not a Prime specific issue.
Every single other device I tested had exactly the same problem. No matter if a Desire, Desire HD, Lumia 800, even my Laptop to some extend...
So this "issue" is a non issue for me.
Now to the GPS part: (Please note that this issue is a non issue for me too, I don't care for my tablets GPS, it's only that I want everything to work).
It's actually too cold outside to test the GPS more than two minutes, but after this time I still can't see a single satellite...
So far I never had any kind of GPS lock with my Prime. I am not sure if it just needs more time...
I will test that later.
I tested the GPS for several hours now (actually I just put the thing outside under clear sky and let it rest there for some hours)
It searched constantly for GPS satellites using the "GPS Status" app and didn't find a single satellite. Not even one.
The only reason why I think I don't have a broken GPS chip/antenna is that I saw one satellite back in HC times...
Since then not a single satellite anymore. (Wifi on/off didn't make any difference btw)
As said above, I don't really care, so this totally faulty GPS (it really just doesn't show anything) is a really good point to return it some time later to get maybe a completely new one
I've found also several non-issue related things:
ICS just looks beautiful
Damn ICS is fast! Everything is just that important bit faster than HC. (not that HC was really slow, but ICS is just noticable faster)
The ASUS taskmanager widget just does not work at all.
It just shuts down as soon as you add it to your homescreen. That's a bit embarassing
Some other facts and information:
Do you know about the "Deactivate app" feature? (Settings->Apps->Click on single app) It's awesome!
You can deactivate (like freeze in titanium) almost every app on the prime. Even the system apps.
I deativated quite a bunch of them (about 20) and the system feels even faster now
I just tested my PS3 controller on the Prime. The native (via USB cable) support works quite well for GTA3 or Shadowgun.
Unfortunately the "Sixaxis" app is not completely compatible yet, touchprofiles won't work at all.
The dev already promised a fixed version for next week
The browser performance is really nice No lagging or skipping
After some fiddling around finally browser sync with chrome works too That's really cool! (I needed to delete chromes bookmark data first in google's dashboard, then resync my local chrome. After that the syncing to the Prime worked perfectly.)
So all in all I am super happy with the ICS update. There's still room for improvement, but ICS really made my Prime the device it should have been since the beginning.
My experience with my (DE SKU) Prime is almost the same. Though I had no WiFi issues prior to ICS.
I've only had mine since monday, so I only had 3 days to play with HC before ICS. But even I feel the difference. Everything is just smoother and more responsive. Especially the web browser. And it will actually sync your Chrome bookmarks now. Yay!
I'm exceptionally happy with my device. I bought it to keep me entertained with movies and games during my 2 hours of commuting every day. So far it's been too much fun to play with to get any gaming or movie watching done.
And I'm not sure if it's because my battery is being broken in, but I feel my battery life has gone up since ICS also.
But yes, Asus Taskmanager seems to be broken for me also. Chrashes as soon as it starts. That's the only negative thing I've seen since the ICS upgrade.
This thread almost convinced me back into getting one... Can you compare the wifi range to anything? GPS I dont care about at all. My biggest gripe is the wifi range. How is it compared to the TF101 after ICS? Or even a Galaxy S2 if you have one of those? Both of them have good enough wifi range for me, if the prime is equal, then I will get one.
Cernunnoz said:
This thread almost convinced me back into getting one... Can you compare the wifi range to anything? GPS I dont care about at all. My biggest gripe is the wifi range. How is it compared to the TF101 after ICS? Or even a Galaxy S2 if you have one of those? Both of them have good enough wifi range for me, if the prime is equal, then I will get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, my prime actually picked up my university's wifi network and had a pretty good signal while my galaxy s2 struggled to even connect. at home, the prime is just a tad slower than my sgs2 when doing speedtests.
Hi Diamondback2010,
I got my Prime and at this moment debating if I'm going to stay with it. I'm on ICS and the issue for me is the skippy WiFi. I have a 50MB connection at home and all my other devices laptops, desktop have no issues whatsoever streaming media to tv however simply being 15ft from the router on the Prime I'm losing connection simply by browsing webpages and they take long to load. I don't have this problem even on my DHD.
For a WiFi only device WiFi is the most important aspect for me and the intended use is for traveling and connecting to different WiFi networks.
Perhaps the newer Prime would be more suitable for my needs that's coming in a few months time unless the current Prime can be made better or these issues I'm having resolved with a firmware update or something.
Also to mention I can replicate screen flickering on the Prime on ICS by using it for a while opening a dozen apps/webpages and tapping the recent items button makes the screen flicker on ICS.
This isn't very good plus the WiFi issue I might send it back, will further be testing today.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Cernunnoz said:
This thread almost convinced me back into getting one... Can you compare the wifi range to anything? GPS I dont care about at all. My biggest gripe is the wifi range. How is it compared to the TF101 after ICS? Or even a Galaxy S2 if you have one of those? Both of them have good enough wifi range for me, if the prime is equal, then I will get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As much as I also love my SGS2, I've never felt it had particularly good wifi. So my Prime beats it nicely. Especially when it comes to the data flow from some distance (20-30 feet through 2 walls) where my SGS2 will have data drops using speed test, my Prime will see no such issues. And the Prime will have more than 10db better signal strength than my SGS2.
I know you asked for the GS2 or the TF101 but since I have neither of those I compared it to my HTC Wildfire which it beat quite comfortably.
LeCramp said:
As much as I also love my SGS2, I've never felt it had particularly good wifi. So my Prime beats it nicely. Especially when it comes to the data flow from some distance (20-30 feet through 2 walls) where my SGS2 will have data drops using speed test, my Prime will see no such issues. And the Prime will have more than 10db better signal strength than my SGS2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds great! I know the SGS2 isn't known for the best wifi, but it is good enough to get a connection where I normaly would use the prime. My TF101 is a little bit better than the SGS2. If the Prime is anywhere between those two, I will buy one! You convinced me
It doesn't release here in Norway untill the 30th, but I will get one then. We are only getting the Champagne gold one, originally I wanted the Amethyst more. Any of you got any impressions on the colors? What do you think of the champagne one?
Cernunnoz said:
This thread almost convinced me back into getting one... Can you compare the wifi range to anything? GPS I dont care about at all. My biggest gripe is the wifi range. How is it compared to the TF101 after ICS? Or even a Galaxy S2 if you have one of those? Both of them have good enough wifi range for me, if the prime is equal, then I will get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ToneyEricsson said:
Hi Diamondback2010,
I got my Prime and at this moment debating if I'm going to stay with it. I'm on ICS and the issue for me is the skippy WiFi. I have a 50MB connection at home and all my other devices laptops, desktop have no issues whatsoever streaming media to tv however simply being 15ft from the router on the Prime I'm losing connection simply by browsing webpages and they take long to load. I don't have this problem even on my DHD.
For a WiFi only device WiFi is the most important aspect for me and the intended use is for traveling and connecting to different WiFi networks.
Perhaps the newer Prime would be more suitable for my needs that's coming in a few months time unless the current Prime can be made better or these issues I'm having resolved with a firmware update or something.
Also to mention I can replicate screen flickering on the Prime on ICS by using it for a while opening a dozen apps/webpages and tapping the recent items button makes the screen flicker on ICS.
This isn't very good plus the WiFi issue I might send it back, will further be testing today.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I can compare it to my laptop and my Desire HD.
My laptop has a really good Wifi reception and it beats my Prime to death
But my Desire HD is a different story. The DHD does have a better range, but that is due to the fact that we (Virtuous Team, creator of the custom ROM I am running) tweaked the Wifi range way beyond stock levels, which leads to really crappy speeds at such ranges.
So in fact my Prime beats my DHD speed wise too. Only thing you really have to keep in mind, is that the Prime's connection is heavily orientation dependant. If the screen shows towards the router (or the general direction) it has quite a bit better recpetion as opposed to the backside towards the router.
I can't really replicate this with m DHD (at least not as much, DHD has Wifi antenna on the backside under a plastic RF window)
With HC I was a bit concerned about Wifi (only range, not the speed), after ICS this is gone.
One gripe is left, but this has something to do with ICS and not the Prime.
You are forced to have some kind of locking mechanism (pin, passwort, gesture) if you want to use an enterprise wifi with certificates (university network)...
That's a bit annyoing... :/
But it's the same on my Desire HD...
Diamondback said:
Well I can compare it to my laptop and my Desire HD.
My laptop has a really good Wifi reception and it beats my Prime to death
But my Desire HD is a different story. The DHD does have a better range, but that is due to the fact that we (Virtuous Team, creator of the custom ROM I am running) tweaked the Wifi range way beyond stock levels, which leads to really crappy speeds at such ranges.
So in fact my Prime beats my DHD speed wise too. Only thing you really have to keep in mind, is that the Prime's connection is heavily orientation dependant. If the screen shows towards the router (or the general direction) it has quite a bit better recpetion as opposed to the backside towards the router.
I can't really replicate this with m DHD (at least not as much, DHD has Wifi antenna on the backside under a plastic RF window)
With HC I was a bit concerned about Wifi (only range, not the speed), after ICS this is gone.
One gripe is left, but this has something to do with ICS and not the Prime.
You are forced to have some kind of locking mechanism (pin, passwort, gesture) if you want to use an enterprise wifi with certificates (university network)...
That's a bit annyoing... :/
But it's the same on my Desire HD...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just been doing some WiFi tests with my HTC Desire HD (running Virtuous Affinity) and Asus Transformer Prime and this is what I'm not happy about
I have a 50MB connection and the desktop with a direct connection is getting 49Mbps so it is a true 50Mbps connection
Now for tests sitting right next to the router which is an N-series router
On my laptop I'm getting 34Mbps
On my HTC Desire HD I'm getting 18Mbps
On the Prime I'm getting 11Mbps
Now for outside in the garden going through 2 walls about 20ft away
On my laptop I'm getting 12Mbps
On my HTC Desire HD I'm getting 6Mbps
On my Prime I'm getting 1Mbps!
I have done this several times and the figures are consistent - this shows my Prime to be under performing compared to my other devices. I would expect the Prime to perform better than the Desire HD but it doesn't.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
I'm not experiencing that at all.. Within 10 feet (or right next to) my router I get over 40Mbps down/5Mbps up (I got a 50/5Mbit connection). This is with a Linksys E4200 v1 router.
20-30 feet away (around 7-10 meters) through 2 walls, I get around 10-14Mbps down/4Mbps up. This is almost the same as my old Netbook (Asus Eee first gen). And alot better than my SGS2.
LeCramp said:
I'm not experiencing that at all.. Within 10 feet (or right next to) my router I get over 40Mbps down/5Mbps up (I got a 50/5Mbit connection). This is with a Linksys E4200 v1 router.
20-30 feet away (around 7-10 meters) through 2 walls, I get around 10-14Mbps down/4Mbps up. This is almost the same as my old Netbook (Asus Eee first gen). And alot better than my SGS2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got one of them Asus Eee pad 1000HE's from years ago too and that performs better than my Prime does with WiFi.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
ToneyEricsson said:
I got one of them Asus Eee pad 1000HE's from years ago too and that performs better than my Prime does with WiFi.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's better, but only by a tiny amount.. And nothing noticable for me when I do a speedtest (2-3Mbps difference and just as stable). I have to note, that my tests are through drywall, not brick.
LeCramp said:
It's better, but only by a tiny amount.. And nothing noticable for me when I do a speedtest (2-3Mbps difference and just as stable). I have to note, that my tests are through drywall, not brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My tests were through brick house walls. Thinking about it its quite amazing that the old Asus 1000HE netbook I have running Windows 7 which I upgraded it with has better WiFi than my Asus Transformer Prime...
I got the Prime for a similar use as the 1000HE for travelling abroad where I connect to loads of WiFi networks. With that low WiFi performance on the Prime I can see I'm going to have problems.
I'm debating to send it back and waiting for the newer Prime which maybe an improvement...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Have you tried doing a factory reset? I've seen people say that their wifi was fixed after that. Please report back if you try.
Cernunnoz said:
Have you tried doing a factory reset? I've seen people say that their wifi was fixed after that. Please report back if you try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried a factory reset I will try it and see what happens.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I'd deffinatly try a factory reset if I was you, as a last resort.. Brick/drywall aside. 11Mbps right next to the router is not right unless you got some serious interference going on.
Just trying a factory reset from settings. Would that be the only reset method to reset or is there some other method with a pin?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I believe thats the way to do it yes.. The pin is only for force rebooting the device, not a data wipe.
LeCramp said:
I believe thats the way to do it yes.. The pin is only for force rebooting the device, not a data wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see just doing the data wipe from settings but I see after booting up ICS is showing 4.0.3 as current installed Android version so by the looks its only wiping user data and apps.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
....I think the answer to that is a resounding NO, I was willing to be patience and wait for upgrades etc to fix probs but having just upgraded to ICS Im very disappointed.
No fixes for various bugs (for me primarily wifi connection), and now I find my gps is not working for some reason, the device nearly went out of the car window yesterday when i was stuck on the A13 with no gps, but then I thought about littering .
Together with the car charging problems (had To buy an Inverter, more money), no hdmi socket no perifials, Car bracket etc, battery life, its not adding up to a good deal.
I originally bought a Ipad on the recomodations of a salesman and assurances that flash would work with it (yea right), so that went back in favour of the 'S', but what next, do I leave it at home and cut my losses (wad of dough).
Its seems that despite advances in technology we are always being used as guinepigs for devices that eventually end up on the scrap heap and never seem to last until the device is broken beyond repair but are dumped by the manufactorer in favour of another useless device, witness my Ipaq stopped supporting Windows, My Dell Streak mini 5 cant even get spares for them anymore, I could go on.
And we seem to accept it without protest almost as if its expected that we lay out loads of dosh for a inferior product, imaging the outcry if we bought cars (or other products) on the same basis, 'oh bear with us, sir, you will be able to drive from A to B as soon as we have sorted out the engin bugs'.
anyway sorry about the rant, Im still simmering from the A13 incident,
Well..
there is a reason why the most tablets still not 100% work like they should be,
Because the tablets like they are now are just still too new,
Better tabs are coming and more abillities are coming too, and then our
problems maby be fixed, Except then there are other problems because there are new things to do with a tablet and ofcourse a higher change to get problems.
I'm sorry to learn that you're upset with your tablet, maybe a tablet is not for you?
Would I buy the s again? Yes. I replaced a Windows Vista Laptop which finally died with my tablet S.
I took a long hard think about what I actually used my laptop for before purchase. Mainly sofa surfing, emails Facebook etc.More importantly it was to have this ability on the move. The small amount of application work could be relegated to my old desktop. I help run another website which has some flash parts so I that meant could not get an i-pad, besides I hate i-tunes.
With the S I'm now able to control my hifi with one device, manage DNLA media on my server, check up on emails and social networking and sofa surf all from one little lightweight and highly portable device. Chuck in free SatNav with Navfree also.
Most android devices could do all this to a certain extent however the IR and playstation integration made the Sony the only choice for me. I also find the screen a higher quality and the shape nicer to use.
Minor bugbears:
Direct communication with SD card socket - ICS fixes this
Lack of Sky go / MS Silverlight - will probably happen in the end
Missing MS Excel - some partial success with apps but would really like a proper MS version.
Would like it to be a bit nippier
Nice said!
Now thats what you call a nice short review. +1
To be honest, it seems like most of those problems could have been avoided with just a little research before you bought. Obviously, different tablets suit different people and if you wanted HDMI-out, lots of weird peripherals and a car bracket, you should've bought a Toshiba Thrive or a Samsung Galaxy Tab.
The Sony's features and advertised purpose are well-known and it is obviously meant to be a media device, and it excels at that. I'm not sure why your battery is not good, but mine far outlasts my iPad's. As for peripherals, as far as I'm concerned, if it'
s got mini-USB which can be turned into full-size USB with a short cable, thats all the peripherals I'm ever going to need.
I respect your opinion and your choice and for the record I don't have any WiFi problems and haven't upgraded to ICS (waiting for official) so I can't comment on that.
However, it seems as if many of your criticisms (including those of other disappointed Tablet S owners) could've been solved by a tiny bit of Internet research and some forethought about your buying choices.
In short, it seems harsh to blame the tool, if you're using the wrong tool for the job that you wanted
Sorry for the rant, but I love mine and am often mystified by these disappointed stories.
I have to agree with the above! I love mine because I did a lot of research before I bought it and realised the sony was the one for me. Does the iPad have hdmi out? I don't know I don't buy into all the apple crap. But if it doesn't then why bring it up. Like said earlier, if that's what you were after there's plenty of devices on the market that could have fulfilled your needs.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using Tapatalk 2.0
-GPS problem is more of an Android problem, the SGS Tab and most phones have crappy GPS as well.
-The wifi issue is hardly a bother, come on. The tablet S literally takes a second to reconnect when you open up the display. It's really quick. How much do you really NEED wifi when the screen is off? Would it be great? Yes, but is it a dealbreaker? hardly not.
-I have no idea what you are talking about about peripherals. The tablet has a full sized SD card slot. I cant think of any other tablet which does. The MicroUSB does the job for connecting as well.
-Battery life has been good for me, even better than the iPad 2.
People can whine and complain all they want, but at the end of the day it is your fault for not researching more about a tablet that would suit your needs. You can't whine about the tablet not having an HDMI slot if you had a choice to choose one that did. Sony never lied and never stated that there was an HDMI slot. Battery life has never been a problem for most people, even the reviewers say the battery life is great. I agree, though, that the charger is retarded.
That said, it seems that those who complain about the Tablet S are expecting too much from the tablet. Sony have been very upfront about what it can and cannot do, and reviews have put this in the top 5 tablets for a reason. It's easy to criticize what something doesn't have, but people forget the good things about a device (SD card slot, great screen, universal remote, playstation etc.)
I am very happy for my table S and would definitely bye it again.
I have actually thought of buing a second as this one is so heavily in use.
I hated mine for the first couple months. Never had any probs with the hardware (nor any wifi/battery issues). For me it was just a crappy slow as firmware. I said on here once that it would all be fixable with root access.
Fast forward to present with me strappin' a rooted ICS loaded Sony Tab and you're looking at one happy camper . I've even adjusted to the fact I stuffed the screen a little when it slid off my car bonnet.
Does everything I want it too and the only time I turn on a laptop anymore is use the all in one tool on it .
Yes. Yes I would.
henly said:
....I think the answer to that is a resounding NO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, well. Yes I would, and yes I did.
I have several tablets, a couple of Sony Tablet S's (16 & 32gb) a Samsung Galaxy 10.1, an ASUS TF101, and a couple of Kindle Fires (rooted and totally recreated as fine little tablets in their own right.) I've also had two iPads in the past, a v1, then v2 (those both went to the niece & nephew for Xmas, total kiddie ware going no-where.)
So, guess which one goes with me in the car and on the plane? Easy, the 32gb Sony. I throw the poor thing around like a paperback book, and it definitely takes a licking. Never complains a bit and still looks new. (Think airport check-ins, X-ray bins, getting banged around on plane tray tables & overhead compartments, etc.) Battery life is xlnt, the display is bright, saturated & Sony sharp, reading Kindle books is hand-natural specific, and... I can load my 64gb SDXC card with just about anything and everything.
Other than the Kindle Fires, (Kinder Panzers?) all of the other tablets I have either had (or have now,) are FRAGILE.
OK: The universal remote. I use the Sony S for everything in the house, especially the WD Lives... this thing is a godsend compared to the little piece of crap they give you for a remote! That Sony Tablet S remote feature sets up easy and remembers forever.
Also, I use either my HTC Desire or Desire HD to connect to the Internet, apply the wifi hotspot, then connect the Sony S to that. Skype calls for free. Wait, somebody say free? Internet and hands free International calls. Easy.
I could go on here, but there's plenty more.
Again, yes I would buy it again, and yes, I already did.
henly said:
....I think the answer to that is a resounding NO, I was willing to be patience and wait for upgrades etc to fix probs but having just upgraded to ICS Im very disappointed.
No fixes for various bugs (for me primarily wifi connection), and now I find my gps is not working for some reason, the device nearly went out of the car window yesterday when i was stuck on the A13 with no gps, but then I thought about littering .
Together with the car charging problems (had To buy an Inverter, more money), no hdmi socket no perifials, Car bracket etc, battery life, its not adding up to a good deal.
I originally bought a Ipad on the recomodations of a salesman and assurances that flash would work with it (yea right), so that went back in favour of the 'S', but what next, do I leave it at home and cut my losses (wad of dough).
Its seems that despite advances in technology we are always being used as guinepigs for devices that eventually end up on the scrap heap and never seem to last until the device is broken beyond repair but are dumped by the manufactorer in favour of another useless device, witness my Ipaq stopped supporting Windows, My Dell Streak mini 5 cant even get spares for them anymore, I could go on.
And we seem to accept it without protest almost as if its expected that we lay out loads of dosh for a inferior product, imaging the outcry if we bought cars (or other products) on the same basis, 'oh bear with us, sir, you will be able to drive from A to B as soon as we have sorted out the engin bugs'.
anyway sorry about the rant, Im still simmering from the A13 incident,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with you. I mean, I like my tablet s, but I think I'm pretty tired of crappy problems/errors. I have an xperia x10i, and also there, other problems. This mainly happen because we have many different models and hw to be adapted to the operative system (this doesn't happen for ipad, just because they have a few hw models and just one corporate workin on sw). Sony produces beautiful machines and great hardware, but they always lack on software, don't know why.
Just bought one, totally unimpressed with it, tried to airplay from ipad on ios7, just get audio
Try it on my galaxy note 3, won't play showbox through it
Anyone else bought one?
markeymark said:
Just bought one, totally unimpressed with it, tried to airplay from ipad on ios7, just get audio
Try it on my galaxy note 3, won't play showbox through it
Anyone else bought one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got one last week, and am a little more impressed with it than you are. Tried it last night with my Nexus7 (2012), and had it quite happily streaming a movie onto the TV via both its own iPush app and also various DLNA apps (Skifka, MediaHouse etc). Setting it up was reasonably easy compared to some reports I've read online about it, although the interface was a little clunky and took a while. Plus of course the written documentation shipped with the device is awful, although ironically the on-screen stuff that the iPush actually displays on the TV when you connect it is much clearer.
So far I only see a couple of negatives. The biggest one is that its built-in WiFi hotspot seems to have a fixed password and always be broadcast (even when it's connected to another device/router), which I would say is a fairly major security hole as it could let someone into the network as a back door. Secondly when I tried it with my HTX 8X (WinPhone 8) it was visible as a renderer to MyMediaHub when the phone was connected directly to the iPush's hotspot, but it didn't seem to pick it up when connected via another hotspot (my Ravpower WD-01 filehub) even though my N7 happily did so in the same scenario. But that second one could just as easily be a glitch with the HTC.
But I have read elsewhere of several people having issues with iOS and Airplay, which I think were also mentioned in the Amazon sales blurb when I got mine (being on Android I didn't take too much notice as it doesn't apply to me). Basically that there wasn't video support for Airplay due to license/copyright issues or something, but beyond that maybe a little Google-Fu could turn something up?
Anyway there seem to be a few firmware updates around which may (I hope) address the wifi password concern. But that's tonight's little project.